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People Share Uniquely American Problems

Americans usually have the problem of thinking they're special but being especially un-special.

But sometimes we do win the special medal--for having this problem that literally NO OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE.

Honestly, these problems are usually CAUSED by American special snowflake syndrome.


u/jimbosayna2009 asked:

What's a uniquely American problem?

Here were some of the answers.


The Kansas Line

Giphy

I'm from Kansas City, Missouri. Not Kansas City, Kansas, which is a silly place. The state line runs right through the middle of the metropolitan area

thatguyfrompreschool

Just like how Portland is on the or/wa border so part of Portland Oregon metro is Vancouver Washington. Yes, Vancouver Washington. NOT bc, Washington state NOT dc. Causes too much confusion. Especially since Vancouver bc is only a 5 hour drive up I-5

JarekBloodDragon

Metred Feet

My tools are imperial, but the thing I need to fix is metric.

Refects

My favorite is when you've got a car where the body is US customary units but the power train is metric.

InfamousConcern

Dang Maine

When in Maine, and you ask a Mainer for directions, some say:

"You can't get there from here."

Back2Bach

What's that mean!?

Moving_soonn

Much of Maine is really rugged, undeveloped, mountainous, lakes, or swamps. "Can't get there from here" isn't literally true of course it just means the way you actually travel somewhere is way, way longer than a straight line distance and might involve backtracking from your current location.

dahvzombie

Mary Jane, Only Some People Care For You

Marijuana being legal in over half the country, but illegal in the whole country.

G_Porgie


I don't know how dispensaries deal with that. "Well, weed is legal in this state so here's a business license. But good luck opening a bank account and fingers crossed that you don't get raided by the feds."

Kraz31

Wait, Other Countries DON'T HAVE THIS?!

Gaps in the doors of bathroom stalls.

veggiesplz

This is one of those things about living in America that drives me absolutely insane! Why doesn't this seem to bother anyone? What is the logic of the bathroom stall designer? I have so many questions!

saruhhhh

Road Rage

Getting tailgated by moms in mini vans or guys in monster trucks that could easily run your whole house over.

sunset_cruiserr

And anyone who does this and isn't in a giant monstrosity of a vehicle always has their high beams on. I'll slow down to slightly under the limit when they do this. If a cop shows up, well, I couldn't see for the blinding lights in all my mirrors; I slowed down for safety. Can't argue with that.

Shryxer

Dela-where?

When you are visiting another country and everyone is saying where they are from, you say your state instead of your country. And no one is quite sure where Wyoming is!

EatYourCheckers

Wtf is a Delaware?

Moving_soonn

Sprawl

People blame Americans being fat on us being too lazy to walk anywhere. But they don't realize how pedestrian unfriendly some of these areas are.

In my old town if I wanted to go just to the store, I'd need to walk a few hours to get there. On roads with large logging trucks barrelling by, with no sidewalks, on shoulders that ranged from "here is a few feet and then a sharp dip into a ditch full of blackberry bushes" to "literally nothing, walk on the actual road." Oh and it was a curving road with lots of dips too, where there was a good chance that cars simply could not see you until you were right in front of them. And zero public transport of any kind that would come anywhere near my house.

My new town is much better, but I still have to take a few detours on my way to the store due to the busy roads and complete lack of sidewalk in certain spots.

ShiraCheshire

FIX HEALTHCARE, FOR CHRISSAKES

My insurance claim was rejected after my visit to the urgent care where they said my insurance was accepted. So now I have a bill of $1,428 for having a guy move my arm for 3 seconds to pop my shoulder back in place.

DivineExchange

This is why I wait a minimum of 90 days before I pay any medical bill. In the US, 80% of all medical bills have errors. I never get consistent/straight/accurate answers from anyone I talk to with the provider or the insurance company. I almost always get "mystery bills" starting about 45 days after that were never explained or discussed prior.

AlreadyShrugging

You're American.

Giphy

Not really a problem but heritage/ancestry is rather uniquely American in my experience. Ask someone from Switzerland what their heritage is and they'll say Swiss. Ask a Brit and they'll say British. Ask a Brazilian and they'll say Brazilian.(Comments say I'm wrong about that one but you get my point)

But ask an American and you'll probably get something like "I'm a quarter Irish and quarter Italian from my dad's side then from my mom I'm 20% English, 12% German, 3% Iroquois Native American, 5% Spanish, and 10% Italian again."

Aethelfrid

Monetarily AND Emotionally Expensive

Realizing that working yourself to death in highschool to be a straight A student rather than a B-C student to go to an amazing college was essentially pointless because in the real world the most important thing is your degree and it doesn't matter very much where you got it from. Whether you go to Towson or UMBC, a Computer Information Systems degree is a Computer Information Systems degree.

Our education system is pretty terrible by the way.

CrimzonShardz

The Merry Old Land Of Oz

What's up with your land subdivisions? Y'all split a lovely large landmass into 50 tiny *ss subdivisions. Then you walk into a different tiny *ss subdivision and suddenly the laws change. And all your internet companies are snippy f*ckers who disagree and route around entire states resulting in ridiculous quality loss.

In Australia we're like "f*ck alright we've got this giant half of the country how do we get internet here from the other giant half of the country?" "In a straight line ya dickhead"

Zeruvi

Everything Is Wrong With US.

Giphy

Paying tens of thousands of dollars for a simple medical treatment, like giving birth.

Worrying about whether a hospital is "in network"

Worrying about how you will pay for being sick, because there is limited sick and holiday pay available.

Having 40%+ of the country so right wing that people like Trump have a chance of being elected to the highest power in the country.

Spending trillions on a military, yet having homeless veterans because the money doesn't stretch to the after effects of service.

Having 40%+ of the country so pro-gun that there can never be any effective form of firearm control.

Having wages so low that consumers are expected to top-up service staff wages, on top of the cost of the goods or services purchased.

Such high wealth inequality that the richest American could buy a half-million dollar house with the same percentage of wealth of an average American buying a $5 meal from a fast food restaurant.

Having the hottest place on the planet, and a place that gets to -50 degrees.

Potential supervolcano eruptions

Fahrenheit

No challengers for the World Series.

todjo929

Power Hungry Jerks

Home Owner Associations and their ability to fine and sell your property and bully you to their will. I remember when I was reading about these in Reddit I was thinking for days "WTF is wrong with Americans?"

Also, software patents, are unique to U.S.A. or do they have variations in other countries too?

vagara

A Country Built On The Backs Of Slaves Will Have This Problem, Duh

Probably the cultural and racial tension between whites and descendants of African Americans and Latinos. Few others countries have so many different cultures and races within its homeland that have coexisted alongside each-other, and have had entire eras in their history where the largest controversy and attention was over matters of race. Examples include the Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil Rights movement, etc.

quinn9648

It's Depressing Over Here, Y'all

Here's a few for you:

  • Having the most incarcerated people per capita in the world. (665 per 100,000)
  • Paying the most in the world for insulin. Many citizens forced to choose between insulin or food. (A new study finds that people with diabetes in the U.S. are paying between 5.7 times and 7.5 times more than those in the UK for two popular insulins and a rare drug to treat diabetic retinopathy. U.S. consumers absorb this higher cost despite often not being the first in line to have access to new drugs or medical device treatments.)
  • Forced to have health insurance, and if you don't- they tax you at 2.5% of your income. Either way you get to pay out of pocket for all of your medical care until you hit your deductible ( usually $5000 or $10,000/ yr) and then insurance companies will only pay 80% of what's left.(The penalty is $695 per adult and $347.50 per child for a maximum of $2,085 per family, or 2.5 percent of the household income, whichever is greater.Mar 14, 2018)
  • The highest infant mortality rate of any developed country (The U.S. infant mortality rate of 6.1 infant deaths per 1,000 live births was more than twice that for Japan and Finland )

Gr8eyeiseverwatchful

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.